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    Clashes Erupt in Damascus Outskirts, Killing 9

    The sectarian-tinged violence was directed at a suburb of the Syrian capital with a large population from the Druse minority. Local Druse leaders said they held the government responsible.Deadly clashes fueled by sectarian tensions erupted on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at least nine people, Syrian officials and a war monitoring group said on Tuesday.The violence erupted overnight from Monday to Tuesday in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, which has a large population from the minority Druse sect. It began after an audio clip circulated on social media of a man insulting the Prophet Muhammad. The clip was attributed to a Druse cleric.The cleric and Druse religious figures in Jaramana denied the accusation. The Syrian Interior Ministry said that its initial findings showed that the cleric was not responsible and appealed for calm.As public anger over the clip grew, fighters in armored vehicles amassed overnight outside Jaramana and began shelling the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group based in Britain. Heavy gun battles also broke out.The audio clip set off demonstrations in a number of other cities, with some of the protesters inciting violence against the Druse, according to the Observatory.The Observatory did not say who was behind the attack on Jaramana, which also wounded 17 people. But local Druse religious authorities in the city said in a statement that they held the government “fully responsible for what happened and any worsening of the situation.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Damaging Winds and Flash Floods Threaten Central and Eastern U.S. Tuesday

    Forecasters warned of damaging winds, hailstones bigger than baseballs and flash floods in parts of an area stretching from Texas to upstate New York.Forecasters are warning of large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding in areas from Texas to upstate New York, as a dangerous storm system continues to tear across central and eastern parts of the United States.The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center has placed parts of western Texas and southwestern Oklahoma, as well as stretches of the Ohio Valley, western Pennsylvania and upstate New York, under an “enhanced” risk of severe weather on Tuesday, the third level of its five-level classification system.Forecasters warned that southern areas faced the threat of hail and isolated tornadoes, while the Northern United States, including the Great Lakes, was at risk of damaging winds.The Storm Prediction Center warned that hailstones larger than baseballs could fall in northwest Texas on Tuesday, accompanied by wind gusts of up to 75 miles per hour. The threat of severe weather was expected to grow stronger through the day.Tornadoes were also possible in parts of Texas and Oklahoma, the Ohio Valley and upstate New York. But Matt Mosier, a lead forecaster at the Storm Prediction Center, said that they were not expected to be the main hazard.Tuesday’s severe weather threats follow a tense Monday in the Upper Midwest, where areas of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin had been placed under a higher risk of tornadoes, at the fourth level in the Weather Service’s classification system. In the end, just two were reported in Minnesota and Wisconsin, a quieter outcome that forecasters attributed to thunderstorms remaining along the cold front associated with the storm system.“When that occurs, it makes it less likely to produce a tornado and more likely to produce hail and damaging winds,” Mr. Mosier said.Still, areas of Oklahoma saw teacup-sized hail, while wind gusts of as high as 68 m.p.h. were recorded in Kansas.Another concern on Tuesday is rain: Northeast Texas, central Oklahoma and western Arkansas were under moderate risk of flash flooding through Thursday, with the Weather Service warning of “locally catastrophic flooding” in parts of southwest Oklahoma as rain falls on already recently soaked grounds.“When you get a stalled cold front like that and there’s a lot of moisture around, it’s kind of a recipe for numerous rounds of rain and storms,” Mr. Mosier said.The storm is expected to move eastward by the weekend, with high pressure bringing a period of calmer weather. But any respite may be short-lived, as another storm system is expected to develop over the western United States as soon as Saturday.“It’s just that time of year,” Mr. Mosier said. “We don’t really go a very long period of time without some sort of system coming through again.” More

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    U.S. Navy Jet Sinks Into Red Sea After Falling Off Aircraft Carrier

    One sailor sustained minor injuries, according to the Navy, which is investigating the incident.A United States Navy fighter jet and a tow tractor fell off an aircraft carrier and sank in the Red Sea on Monday after the crew lost control of the plane, the Navy said.One sailor sustained minor injuries, the Navy said, adding that it would investigate the incident on the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman, which is operating in the Red Sea and helping to launch attacks against Houthi militias in Yemen. The F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, which cost about $67 million, according to the Navy, was being towed in the hangar bay when crew members lost control.The aircraft carrier was turning hard to better position itself against the threat of Houthi missiles and drones when the jet fell into the water, according to three Defense Department officials with knowledge of the incident. The maneuver was believed to be a contributing factor to the loss of the plane, but not necessarily the only reason it went overboard, the officials said.A Houthi spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Monday that the group had launched missiles and drones at the Truman.“Sailors towing the aircraft took immediate action to move clear of the aircraft before it fell overboard,” the Navy said.The Houthis have been attacking commercial and military ships in the Red Sea as a show of solidarity with the residents of Gaza and Hamas, the militant group that controls the enclave. President Trump ordered the U.S. military to begin an air campaign, called Operation Rough Rider, against the Houthis on March 15, following some strikes under the Biden administration.American forces have hit more than 800 targets in Yemen during the campaign, according to the U.S. military.The targets of those strikes included “multiple command-and-control facilities, air defense systems, advanced weapons manufacturing facilities and advanced weapons storage locations,” the military said.The Truman and the rest of the vessels in its strike group remained “fully mission capable” after the loss of the plane, the Navy said.It is not the first mishap for the Truman during its deployment in the Middle East. In February, the carrier collided with a merchant ship near Port Said, Egypt, damaging the carrier and the commercial ship. The Navy fired the carrier strike group commander afterward.In December, an F/A-18 Super Hornet flying from the aircraft carrier was shot down by the guided-missile cruiser Gettysburg, which was accompanying the Truman. The two pilots were safely recovered. More

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    Molecular, Glow-in-the-Dark Cloud Discovered Close to Earth

    The cloud, named Eos, is chock-full of molecular hydrogen and possibly rife with star-forming potential in the future.A newly discovered potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest structures in the sky.Thomas Müller (HdA/MPIA) and Thavisha Dharmawardena (NYU)Stars and planets are born inside swirling clouds of cosmic gas and dust that are brimming with hydrogen and other molecular ingredients. On Monday, astronomers revealed the discovery of the closest known cloud to Earth, a colossal, crescent-shaped blob of star-forming potential.Named Eos, after the Greek goddess of the dawn, the cloud was found lurking some 300 light-years from our solar system and is as wide as 40 of Earth’s moon lined up across the sky. According to Blakesley Burkhart, an astrophysicist at Rutgers University, it is the first molecular cloud to be detected using the fluorescent nature of hydrogen.“If you were to see this cloud on the sky, it’s enormous,” said Dr. Burkhart, who announced the discovery with colleagues in the journal Nature Astronomy. And “it is literally glowing in the dark,” she added.Identifying and studying clouds like Eos, particularly based on their hydrogen content, could reshape astronomers’ understanding of how much material in our galaxy is available to produce planets and stars. It will also help them measure the creation and destruction rates of the fuel that can drive such formations.“We are, for the first time, seeing this previously hidden reservoir of hydrogen that can form stars,” said Thavisha Dharmawardena, an astronomer at New York University who is an author of the study. After Eos, she said, astronomers are “hoping to find many more” such hydrogen-heavy clouds.Molecular hydrogen, which consists of two hydrogen atoms bound together, is the most abundant material in the universe. Stellar nurseries are chock-full of it. But it is difficult to detect the molecule from the ground because it glows in far-ultraviolet wavelengths that are readily absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Street Style Look of the Week: A Business Casual Bomber Jacket

    Justice Omoruyi had just wrapped another photo shoot before ours took place. He and some friends were in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood taking pictures for CunyOutfits, an Instagram account showcasing the style of City University of New York students, when we crossed paths on a Tuesday in mid April.“We go around the city, take pictures and just have fun,” said Mr. Omoruyi, an 18-year-old mechanical engineering student at City College in Harlem.His style has been influenced by his love of thrift shopping, he said, noting that he bought the bomber jacket he was wearing over his shirt and tie at the Grand Bazaar, a resale market on the Upper West Side. What Mr. Omoruyi likes most about thrifting is the journey some items take before he finds them. “I could thrift a shirt from Texas, or Jersey,” he said, “because someone may have moved here and decided to give it away.”

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    Adidas Warns Sneakers Will Cost More in the U.S. as Trump’s Tariffs Take Effect

    The chief of the German sportswear giant said that unpredictability surrounding the tariffs prevented the company from issuing a full-year forecast, but he predicted a price increase for American consumers.The German sportswear company Adidas said on Tuesday that the increase in tariffs would lead to higher prices for its sneakers and sportswear for U.S. customers.“Since we currently cannot produce almost any of our products in the U.S., these higher tariffs will eventually cause higher costs for all our products for the U.S. market,” Bjorn Gulden, the company’s chief executive, said Tuesday on a call with analysts.Mr. Gulden said Adidas had sent extra inventory to the United States to clear customs before tariffs took effect, but he added that the company would eventually feel President Trump’s 10 percent base-line duty increase for all imports.“Cost increases due to higher tariffs will eventually cause price increases,” he said. “But it is currently impossible to quantify these or to conclude what impact this could have on the consumer demand for our products.”Adidas also rerouted some products that were made in China and destined for the United States to other markets, which are expected to become more important for the company in the wake of the growing trade war between the global superpowers.U.S. sales in the first three months of the year increased just 3 percent, because of the phasing out of the last sneakers in the popular Yeezy line, which were developed with the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, as part of a collaboration that ended in 2022.In Europe, sales increased 14 percent in the first three months of the year, while sales in China grew 13 percent.The company, which is based in Herzogenaurach in southern Germany, said that it was refraining from issuing a profit outlook for the full year, citing the unpredictability that tariffs have caused, which affect many countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam, where Adidas produces many of its shoes and sportswear.“In a ‘normal world,” Mr. Gulden said, the company’s first-quarter results would have led it to raise the outlook for revenue and operating profit for 2025, but “the uncertainty regarding the U.S. tariffs has currently put a stop to this.” More

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    Trump Administration Looks to Take Steps to Ease Pain From Car Tariffs

    The planned concessions to give automakers more time to relocate production to the United States would still leave substantial tariffs on imported cars and car parts.The Trump administration said it plans to announce measures as early as Tuesday to ease the impact of tariffs on imported cars and car parts to give automakers more time to relocate production to the United States.Tariffs of 25 percent on imported vehicles and on auto parts will remain in place. But the tariffs will be modified so that they are not “stacked” with other tariffs, for example on steel and aluminum, a White House spokesman said. Automakers will not have to pay tariffs on those metals, widely used in automobiles, on top of the tariffs on cars and parts.In addition, automakers will be reimbursed for some of the cost of tariffs on imported components. The reimbursement will amount to up to 3.75 percent of the value of a new car in the first year, but will be phased out over two years, the spokesman confirmed.A 25 percent tariff on imported cars took effect April 3. On Saturday, the tariffs are set to be extended to include imported parts.“President Trump is building an important partnership with both the domestic automakers and our great American workers,” Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, said in a statement. “This deal is a major victory for the president’s trade policy by rewarding companies who manufacture domestically, while providing runway to manufacturers who have expressed their commitment to invest in America and expand their domestic manufacturing.”But even with these changes, there will still be substantial tariffs on imported cars and auto parts, which will raise prices for new and used cars by thousands of dollars and increase the cost of repairs and insurance premiums.The modification to the tariffs was reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Lutnick helped automakers secure a major exemption from tariffs in March and has taken on a role advocating relief for some industries hit by the levies.Automakers welcomed the change. “We believe the president’s leadership is helping level the playing field for companies like G.M. and allowing us to invest even more in the U.S. economy,” Mary T. Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, said in a statement on Monday. “We appreciate the productive conversations with the president and his administration and look forward to continuing to work together.” More

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    What Do You Want to Know About Student Loans?

    Send us your questions about student loans. We’ll answer some in an upcoming newsletter.Next week, the federal government will resume collecting payments from the millions of Americans who have defaulted on their student loan debts. (The Biden administration had paused enforcement in 2020, during the pandemic.)For a future edition of The Morning newsletter, we want to know: What questions do you have about student loans?We won’t publish any part of your response without following up with you first. And we won’t use your contact information for any reason other than to get in touch with you. More